CHAPTER 71.2: HEAVEN'S END, LAST STEP

Qi Yuan's junior sister was rich, hence she'd probably look down on looting. Meanwhile, he was dirt poor. If he didn't loot, how was he supposed to eat?

Jiang Lingsu flipped her hand, and a pile of stuff tumbled out, mixed with lopsided, cracked spirit stones. Most had come from Wang Shuang's bag.

"There's nothing valuable in his storage bag, only a cheap jade slip technique. The other is even poorer. He only has junk."

Qi Yuan's eyes lit up. Is this junk?

Then, he remembered every night, his vegetable knife dug through the garbage heap behind Jiang Lingsu's straw hut. He fell silent. Even her actual garbage was expensive. The child of a poor family grows up fast.

Qi Yuan quietly picked up the scattered spirit stones.

Jiang Lingsu tossed the jade slip to him. "Senior Brother, this is the Bright Palace's technique, Xuantian Bright Art. It's a low-grade Profound-tier technique, average at best. But there's one secret skill in it, the Radiant Sword. That one is quite interesting."

Qi Yuan instantly felt like a country bumpkin. The Divine Radiance's top technique was only mid-grade Jade tier! Taking the jade slip, Qi Yuan began to study it seriously. The more he read, the more shocked he became.

As expected of a Profound-tier technique, a single method contained a vast array of mysteries! He felt mastering this one technique would bring more than studying ten thousand elementary methods from the Black Mountain Sect.

So, all those months spent memorizing thousands of Basic-tier manuals has been a total waste...

If Profound tier was this terrifying, what about Heaven tier? If he could obtain a Heaven tier technique and study it daily, wouldn't he be able to push the Qi Yuan Scripture to the Core Formation, perhaps even to the Nascent Soul realm?!

Unfortunately, all the game-derived techniques didn't mesh with true cultivation. They couldn't be used to refine the Qi Yuan Scripture, or perhaps he was just too weak to see their essence.

Qi Yuan clutched the jade slip. "Thanks, Junior Sister. This technique will be of great use to me. Still, since you were the mastermind, you should take something too."

Jiang Lingsu shot him a glare. Still with the mastermind and accomplice nonsense?

With a huff, she scooped up some scraps. "Let's go."

Qi Yuan glanced again at the bodies. "Junior Sister, that flower looks pretty valuable."

He was referring to the emblem of the Divine Flower Society.

Jiang Lingsu was speechless. "Senior Brother, I think their corpses are valuable, too. Why don't you drag them back to the Seven-Colored Peak as fertilizer, or maybe refine them into puppets?"

Qi Yuan panicked. "No! The Bright Palace might misunderstand!"

Afterward, the two returned to Divine Radiance Sect. On the way, Jiang Lingsu secretly slipped into Golden Light Hall to leave a letter, before returning to their own rooms.

As she stood outside the straw hut, Jiang Lingsu gazed at Qi Yuan's retreating figure. Her eyes flickered with an unreadable light. They'd committed a joint crime. She'd also learned his secret. Now, surely, their bond was closer than before?

"Senior Brother..." she called softly, intending to invite him to eat dinner together that night.

Qi Yuan suddenly turned around, blurting out, "Junior Sister, you've got it all wrong! I didn't exterminate the Black Mountain Sect! Sure, I killed those Foundation Establishment realm cultivators today, but the Black Mountain Sect has multiple Core Formation realm elders, each terrifyingly strong!"

Jiang Lingsu abandoned her dinner invitation. "...I never misunderstood."

Senior Brother wasn't possessed by some old monster. A Peak Qi Refinement realm cultivator like him couldn't possibly have wiped out Black Mountain Sect. It was just impossible.

***

Time passed as Qi Yuan sat in his hut, transfixed on the Xuantian Bright Art—or more precisely, its secret art, the Radiant Sword.

It was the most powerful spell he'd ever seen. The art condensed one's mana into a blazing sword of light to smite foes. True to its name, it gleamed like a sunlit blade, searing the soul. Its righteous brilliance terrified demons and heretics, stunning them before cutting them down. It even carried a spiritual attack.

As a supreme art, it was open to all disciples, with Bright Palace even deliberately spreading word of it. However, to cultivate higher-level versions, disciples had to offer massive contributions to the sect. Qi Yuan had spent days modifying it as a result.

As a result, Qi Yuan had spent days modifying it. Where others condensed righteous qi into a sword of light, he condensed his killing intent into a blood-colored sword.

Finally, he had succeeded. Blood qi surged through him as he left his hut and stepped into his usual practice ground.

"Radiant Sword!"

Immediately, a crimson sword manifested in the air, exuding dread. It lashed out like a winter wind cutting flesh. He felt like he could easily kill a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator in one strike.

How terrifying it was! Usually, he'd need his vegetable knife to get the job done.

Satisfied, Qi Yuan nodded. "The modification worked! ...Though, the scarlet glow makes it look more like a demonic sword than a radiant one. I have to find a way to disguise it as a sword of light!"

He decided that'd be his next step. That way, he could brandish it openly in future battles. He could even imitate the Bright Palace and suppress others in the name of justice.

Look, I condensed my righteousness into a sword of light. How could I possibly be some old devil?

***

Back in his hut, Qi Yuan glanced at the frosty moon hanging above the Seven-Colored Peak.

He sighed. "More slaughter awaits. Today, I'll overcome the final trial. As long as I defeat the Metal-Armored God, I'll seize full control of Heaven's End."

Truthfully, fear gnawed at him. Barely a month had passed outside, but within Heaven's End, he had slaughtered for centuries, nearly a millennium.

Every day on the Ascension Platform had been the same. Kill after kill, only to face ever-stronger opponents.

As a result, his battle instincts had been honed to a terrifying edge. Now, he only had to use ninety percent of his strength to win against a Divine Giant like Flower Burial Fairy. He could kill a Divine realm powerhouse blindfolded, and a Domain lord of level 97 in a single hit. Even his experience pool was overflowing, yet his level remained stuck at 99.

The endless slaughter had left him weary. Nevertheless, when he thought of Little Bride, who had fought beside him all this time, he straightened again.

"I am a man in armor. I will cut down every last foe!"

Entering the game, he pulled Little Bride from the pit. They climbed the final step of the Ascension Platform together, beyond which the Metal-Armored God awaited. The last two battles would be the fiercest of all, as victory meant full dominion over Heaven's End.

Holding Little Bride's cold, delicate fingers, Qi Yuan stepped into the last stair.

The scene shifted, with mountains surrounding him in every direction.

Atop each peak sat a Divine realm powerhouse, exuding aura no weaker than those of Dragon Judge, Feather, or Pupil. There were three thousands of them, each at the very peak of the Divine realm, level 99. However, Qi Yuan sensed something strange. Their levels were forcibly capped. In truth, they were probably stronger than that.

The moment he appeared, every one of those powerhouses opened their eyes. Thousands of sharp gazes locked onto him, piercing like blades, making his skin crawl. It was like Journey to the West, when a lone mortal trespassed into Spirit Mountain, surrounded on all sides by countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats.

Yet, Qi Yuan stood tall, a faint crimson aura swirling around him. "Three thousand Peak Divine realm experts, is it?"

He was demonic and dazzlingly handsome. His eyes appeared calm, but on closer look, endless bloodlight seethed within.

Yet, as he lowered his gaze to Little Bride, his gaze softened with tenderness. "Little Bride, Sharing One Robe, till the end."